Rundown purple house has neighbors seeing red

Oct. 6, 2013

A Denville property owner, criticized by neighbors for letting his house go, angered them last week by painting the home bright purple. On Monday, he added big pink breast cancer ribbons on the house. / Bob Karp/staff photographer

Written by

William Westhoven

Daily Record

DENVILLE — A little house in Morris County is attracting a lot of attention — and creating some curbside controversy — as the result of a recent extreme makeover.

John Pinto, owner of the property at 382 Franklin Road, says he was expecting some reaction last week after painting the exterior of his unoccupied, decaying Cape Cod-style home a bright purple. But he was not expecting a backlash from some neighbors who say his choice of color, described by one of them as “in-your-face purple,” was a deliberate ploy to annoy them.

Those neighbors were shocked again last Monday when Pinto attached huge, corrugated plastic pink ribbons to the front and side of the boarded-up structure, a gesture he says is in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is October. Pinto added that the purple was a similar nod of support to victims of lupus, saying he knows victims of both diseases.

But some neighbors said they aren’t buying his story. They claim Pinto has let the property go for years and, after receiving multiple notices of violation from the township, has only done the bare minimum required to avoid summonses. While they don’t object to the ribbons, they say painting the home purple was the last straw.

“This is ridiculous,” said neighbor Ray Baxter, who lives across the street. “He could drive the property values down the whole block. What if he buys three houses on the block and paints them purple?”

Another neighbor, Laura Quinn, said she is concerned about traffic on the busy road near the intersection with Route 10, saying drivers have been rubbernecking as they pass Pinto’s house, with some even stopping and getting out of their vehicles to take photos.

“Some people just have to make everything about themselves,” said Pinto, 36, who operates a waste-disposal company. “I have nothing against any of the neighbors. I’m an open book. They can call and ask me anything.”

One driver who stopped in front of the house last week, Sandy DeMidio of Mount Olive, said, “My mom just passed away from breast cancer and I just saw it, and wanted to take a picture. It caught my eye. It means something to me and I wanted to share it.”

His neighbors are correct on one point — the house and the property are in sorry shape. Pinto admits as much, saying he used to rent it out but stopped a few years ago because the home was no longer structurally safe. The sloping 8-acre property behind the house is overgrown with thick weeds, and a cinder block foundation on one side is the only remnant of a garage and patio that he was required to demolish.

All he wants, Pinto says, is to sell the property, which he says he inherited 14 years ago. Both he and his real estate agent, Carol Palk, say the home is now under contract with a buyer and they are hopeful the sale will go through soon. He also said he plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale to charities related to lupus and breast cancer, although he could not identify which charities he would fund.

If the sale falls through, Pinto said, he plans to knock the house down.

“None of this is permanent,” he said.

But for now, the Franklin Road feud continues to simmer. Next-door neighbor Brian Walsh was the most vocal of the neighborhood foes, claiming Pinto had let the property go to seed after his development plans for the property fell through, and the recent paint job was retaliation for Walsh taking his complaints to the township.

Township Administrator Steven Ward said Pinto was issued “three pages” of notices of violations in August. based on the township’s recently adopted ordinance based on the International Property Maintenance Code. They ranged from overgrown weeds to a a poorly maintained sidewalk.

Ward said Pinto has more work to do to bring the house up to code, but has shown effort to comply with the township’s directives, including whacking the tall weeds in front of the property.

And, of course, he hired painters to paint it purple. When informed that the back of the home wasn’t painted, Ward said he would look into that. But Pinto’s preference for purple does not violate any codes, old or new, nor do the ribbons.

“We do not regulate color,” Ward said. “Property owners can paint their home any color they choose.”

He also likened the ribbons to Halloween or Christmas decorations, for which Denville also has no applicable restrictions.

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